Insightful Commentary from and on the Canadian Film World

Suffer (Review)

The movie stars Logan O’Conner (Ryan Robbins) who has recently gotten kidnapped by an underground gang who wear plain simple masks. With no way to get out, Logan has to take on the only other individual without a mask, the gang’s wrestling champ. They each trade blow for blow, but eventually Logan falls and is trapped in a garbage bag inside a walk-in freezer.

Since Logan isn’t dead, he tries to escape. He then finds himself in a kitchen belonging to a fat cannibalistic man, who happens to be the gang’s chef (Darryl Quon). Almost all of his food is some sort of asian cuisine with body parts. Logan watches nervously as the chef severs his next victim’s leg while the victim howls in pain. Logan attempts to escape and as he does, he hears the cries of a woman and tries to find her.

Once he finally scopes her out, the imprisoned woman (Crystal Lowe) frantically wails and Logan finds her chained to a filthy restroom stall. Logan offers to save her and heads back to the kitchen, but returning makes it questionable if he can save the woman or even himself for that matter.

What happens next can be described as blood and an unexpected twist. For only 18 minutes, this film really captured the mood and really made me feel like I was almost there. The use of red and body parts is really well done even if it made me a bit queasy. The shots are well aimed and help with the mood but the story might’ve needed a bit more explaining. It would’ve helped if there was an explanation as to why that gang kidnapped Logan and who they were, but backstory doesn’t always have to be too elaborate — whether there is one or not.